Mavis Williams, the grandmother of Adam Peaty, stands outside her home in UttoxeterAdam Peaty said of his proudest fan: "She's a great nan and she's always loved swimming. Hopefully, I've done her proud."Screen grabbed image of the Twitter page of @Mavise42Mavis, the grandmother of Adam Peaty, who stayed up into the early hours of Monday morning to watch her grandson win Britain's first Olympic gold in men's swimming for decades and the first Team GB medal of the games

As Adam Peaty stormed to victory in Rio de Janeiro, one fan was stealing the spotlight 6,000 miles away - his grandmother.

Mavis Williams stayed up into the early hours of Monday morning at her home in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, to watch her grandson win Team GB's first medal of the 2016 Olympic Games - and the first British men's swimming gold for decades.

Aged 74, Ms Williams joined Twitter ahead of the Games, labelling herself the #OlympicNan and tweeting her congratulations to the 21-year-old swimming sensation and his GB team-mates.

After her grandson scooped gold - and smashed his own world record for the second time in two days - she proudly told her 3,400 followers: "My Grandson has done it."

In a tweet to Peaty and his coach, Melanie Marshall, she added: "Well you have done it @adam_peaty you have made it, your hard work paid off. Congratulations to you and @massivemel. So proud love Nan x."

She later told ITV's Good Morning Britain she is "proud as punch" of her grandson and described the exhilarating experience of watching him storm to glory.

She said: "I went ballistic, (I was) excited and very pleased for him because he's worked so hard for it and I knew he would do it but I wouldn't let on. It was exciting from the word go, I just had my hands in front of my eyes until he was off the block."

Ms Williams, dubbed "classic" by her Olympic champion grandson, said she was looking forward to giving him a hug when he returns home.

Asked what she thinks he will make of her new-found Twitter fame, she said: "I think he will be all right and say 'Go for it'."

Ms Williams is now winning a race of her own - to get more followers than Caroline Peaty, the Olympic champion's mother.

She told the Associated Press: "You don't go out as much as you do when you were younger, now do you? It's given me a new interest and kept my brain working."

After his win in the men's 100m breaststroke, Peaty said he had been under a self-imposed social media blackout to avoid distraction before the event.

He returned to social media a few hours later, posting a picture of himself in the pool with eyes shut and arms outstretched seconds after taking gold.

And he said of his proudest fan: "She's a great nan and she's always loved swimming. Hopefully, I've done her proud."

Ms Williams revealed that her grandson, who has now added the Olympic title to his European, Commonwealth and World championship crowns, would "scream every time he got in the bath" as a child.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said she was "so proud" of Peaty and always knew he had "got something" when she first saw him training in the pool in Derby as a youngster.

She said: "I can't explain my feelings, I was so proud."

Ms Williams added: "He worked so hard for this and he deserves it.

"I'm glad he got what he wanted."

She revealed Peaty "didn't like the water" as a small child.

"He used to scream every time he got in the bath and when his mum took him to the pool, he used to scream there."

Ms Williams said it was only after a trip to the baths with a family friend that he took to the water.